Rising Stars: Meet Craig Hogan of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Hogan

Hi Craig, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first started dancing when I was 12 years old. I originally started with gymnastics and my coach was talking to my mom about how flexible I was and he suggested she put me in dancing. I started very late, especially for a male. The average age for someone to start taking dance seriously is 7-9 years old, significantly younger than when I started. When I started dancing, I knew this is what I wanted to do for the result of my life. Even though I had a significant disadvantage compared to everyone else, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. I worked harder than ever to prove I can do this. In 2018 I was training for around 20 hours a week. A year later in 2019, that doubled, it was anywhere between 30 and 40 hours a week, depending if I had a competition. I went straight into competitive dance. I did my first competition roughly 2 months after I started dancing. From September 2017 to March 2020, I was at competitions nearly every weekend. It was very rare I missed a competition. In 2017 I started getting a bit of a name for myself, which grew even bigger in 2018 when I won a People Choice Award in dancing. I won so many competitions and awards over the years that I was a competitive dancer. When Covid-19 hit in March 2020, obviously competitions were all cancelled. Competitions didn’t fully resume until around September 2021. When competitions resumed, I had my first competition back in December 2021, and retired from competitive dancing in March 2022 when I was around 16 years old. At this time, I was working towards becoming a professional dancer with auditions and college placements. I worked so hard over the last 2 years, and I am incredibly grateful that I’m where I am today. As a professional in the industry, within recent weeks I have assisted in masterclasses, performed in music videos, I performed at the Industry Dance Awards & Gala of Stars in Hollywood which was choreographed by singer and dancer JoJo Siwa. It was an honour to peform with so many amazing dancers, and to meet some of the biggest names in the dance and music industry. These are people that I really looked up to when I first started at 12 years old. It wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for my mom. My mom waited in her car for hours every day, even when it was freezing in the cold winter months. She invested so much money into my career and also gave up her social life to ensure I got to where I wanted to be. I’m originally from Ireland, and now my dance career is based out in Los Angeles, California. A dream that has now become a reality.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was very tough at the start. I obviously started dancing very late at 12 years old. In 2017 and 2018 I was surrounded by a very toxic enviroment and a lot of jealous people. People, but mothers in specific didn’t like me because I was only dancing for a few months and I was winning while their kids that have been dancing nearly their whole life were barely placing. Aside my jealousy, I really suffered in 2020 when it came to the Covid-19 lockdowns. In March 2020 most dancers started doing classes on Zoom. It was fine at the start, but it was very hard to learn choreography and work on certain tricks when we were all stuck in such a small space. Most of us were training in our kitchens and bedrooms. It was all fine until around December 2020, then it started getting very annoying. It felt like it was never going to return to normal. This really affected my dance career. I lost just under 2 years worth of competitive dancing and proper training due to Covid-19.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a working professional dancer. I specialize in Contemporary, Lyrical, Ballet, Jazz and Acro. I am most proud of my professional side of my dance journey, in specific teaching, assisting in dance classes, working on professional shows and music videos. It has definitely been some of my proudest moments so far in my dance career. I think the fact that I’m a male dancer and that I started very late sets me apart from others. The professional dance industry is only 25% of males and 75% females.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
A few things that I have learned from the Covid-19 Crisis would be time management, but most importantly to never give up and to keep following your dreams, even if it looks like you are in a never ending tunnel.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craighogan._